Every few weeks, the ‘boy child’ dominates public discourse.
The same question gets asked on television shows, newspapers or radio shows: Are boys really falling behind? Why have boys become part of the national conversation?
Is it because Namibia has entered an era where women occupy more political and other leadership positions? Or has society only now started paying attention to something that has existed for years?
It’s safe to say that Namibia has a near unprecedented level of female representation in political leadership.
In 2025, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah became the country’s first female president. Women also occupy several top political offices, leading some citizens and observers to ask if Namibia is gradually moving towards a ‘gynarchic society’.
Although women have made significant progress, especially in politics, men still dominate areas such as traditional authorities, commercial agriculture, mining, construction, transport, and sections of the private sector.
Economic and social power is shared between men and women, but the balance remains unequal across different sectors.
POSSIBLE FACTORS
So, why have boys been thrust into the public spotlight?
Yes, boys have has been struggling academically. For example, the 2023 Education Management Information System report recorded 8 720 boys dropping out of school compared to 8 432 girls.
In addition, research by the University of Namibia found that boys generally have higher repetition and dropout rates and a lower academic performance than girls.
However, only a few people have looked at other contributing factors.
It’s possible poor academic performance might just be the tip of why the boy child is falling behind.
To understand these issues well, we need to look beyond academic performance, as most of the debates and arguments so far has focused mainly on this single factor.
There are other factors. These include substance abuse, crime, fatherhood, and mental health. However, there are other factors that are not considered.
Most available evidence just shows that boys underperform academically compared to girls. It does not conclusively explain why.
As a result, much of the public debate relies on assumptions rather than evidence.
Some Namibians find the boy child controversy difficult to ignore as it became a major public issue at around the time Namibia inaugurated its first female president and appointed a Cabinet in which approximately 57% of ministers are women.
For some, this creates a perception that the conversation is less about new evidence and more about a reaction to women’s increasing representation in politics.
It is therefore worth asking whether the issue is sometimes driven more by politics than by evidence.
TWO REALITIES
Terms like ‘gynarchy’, or ‘women’s dominance’ can be used as a powerful political statement. However, they should not distract us from looking at the facts.
Based on available evidence, Namibia has not really reached a gynarchy, nor does it appear to be halfway there.
One could say it just indicates greater female representation in politics, and perhaps a sign of progress toward gender equality, not female dominance.
This does not mean the issue should be dismissed if there’s clear evidence that boys are falling behind.
We should rather look at how we can mitigate this issue beyond the realm of public debate.
More importantly, perhaps, the question is not whether Namibia is moving towards a gynarchy but whether it is creating equal opportunities for all its citizens.
These two realities are not contradictory.
Namibia can celebrate the empowerment of the girl child, the rise of women in political leadership as well acknowledge that many boys face major challenges.
Our future depends not on choosing one over the other, but on ensuring that neither is left behind.
– Jivan Gariseb is a political science student at the University of Namibia. He writes in his personal capacity.
